Monday, May 16, 2011

Honey

Funny how all at once it seems you have so much to do! Recently I went into the hive and extracted some honey, and I've been having a lot of fun bottling all of it and also creating some extra things that go along with my new honey business endeavor.

I used a couple of my crafting tools to create a package custom created just for my honey, by me! (Can you tell I'm a control freak?) I used my YUDU screen printer to create logos of a honey bee that I drew for the outside of the box and also for the top piece of fabric. I felt the piece of fabric underneath the lid gave my bottles an old fashioned feel, while the crisp white fabric with the golden bee added a modern touch.

Now funny enough, while I have this big powerful Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby, I don't have the software that goes with it to create my own embroideries. Luckily I found a way to work around this with the first sewing machine I ever bought myself, the Futura SES-1000. I got it from HSN and it came with editing software that I was able to use to take the same little bee I drew for the tops of the bottles, and turn it into an embroidery file. The embroidery file seemed too perfect to not make tote bags, and since I designed the image myself, I don't need to worry about being sued down the road for copyright infringement (no really I think, AND worry about these things)

A peak at the tote bag making process, I always end up crafting on the floor.... (also the printed fabric is for the inside lining :-)

It's pretty exciting for me, considering last year I just gave all the honey I collected away, and this year I've already sold two jars! (May not seem like a lot, but it makes me happy, and keeps me wanting to make a better product) The first three customers I get are recieving tote bags for free as an added bonus to their purchase as a token of my true appreciation. As of right now, that leaves room for one more person to get a tote. I must say, it is pretty satisfying to be able to say that you: collected, processed, and bottled all the honey, and on top of that, designed the packaging, created the packaging, and then packaged it all together to be sent away to any of my much appreciated customers :-) Here's some of the photos I used for my Etsy Store.